PANCREATIC DUCTAL MUCOSA AS A PROTECTIVE BARRIER IN PATHOGENESIS OF PANCREATITIS

The pancreatic ducts are lined by mucus-secreting epithelial cells. At low infusion pressures this lining shows remarkable resistance to normal bile, activated pancreatic enzymes, and bacteria. Infected bile has proved to be the most potent factor in this series of experiments in breaching this barrier. The earliest changes in the ductal wall are difficult to assess by using only the routine histologic technics. In these experiments attempts were made to find new ways of studying the anatomic and functional integrity of the ductal wall. The nature and mode of action of bile altered" by the E. coli organisms is still open to speculation. © 1968."